Subsurface Geomicrobiology

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 20244

Special Issue Editor

Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Interests: molecular ecology of extreme environments; acidophiles; halophiles; subsurface geomicrobiology; astrobiology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Subsurface geomicrobiology is a new frontier in microbiology. It seeks to determine whether life can be sustained in the absence of solar radiation. Subsurface ecosystems are also valuable astrobiological models useful for the re-creation of life in putative early Earth scenarios and for ascertaining its possible existence in other planetary bodies. Although Charles R. Darwin predicted the existence of deep subsurface ecosystems almost two hundred  years ago and a few pioneer observations in the beginning of last century suggested the existence of active microorganisms associated with subsurface minerals, the first reports describing subsurface geomicrobiology are very recent. Despite the progress that has been recently made in the field, information concerning microbial abundance, diversity, and sustainability in subsurface ecosystems is still scarce, mainly due to the methodological limitations of studying microbial metabolisms dispersed in a solid rock matrix.

Prof. Ricardo Amils
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

22 pages, 2687 KiB  
Article
Ample Arsenite Bio-Oxidation Activity in Bangladesh Drinking Water Wells: A Bonanza for Bioremediation?
by Zahid Hassan, Munawar Sultana, Sirajul I. Khan, Martin Braster, Wilfred F.M. Röling and Hans V. Westerhoff
Microorganisms 2019, 7(8), 246; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7080246 - 08 Aug 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3509
Abstract
Millions of people worldwide are at risk of arsenic poisoning from their drinking water. In Bangladesh the problem extends to rural drinking water wells, where non-biological solutions are not feasible. In serial enrichment cultures of water from various Bangladesh drinking water wells, we [...] Read more.
Millions of people worldwide are at risk of arsenic poisoning from their drinking water. In Bangladesh the problem extends to rural drinking water wells, where non-biological solutions are not feasible. In serial enrichment cultures of water from various Bangladesh drinking water wells, we found transfer-persistent arsenite oxidation activity under four conditions (aerobic/anaerobic; heterotrophic/autotrophic). This suggests that biological decontamination may help ameliorate the problem. The enriched microbial communities were phylogenetically at least as diverse as the unenriched communities: they contained a bonanza of 16S rRNA gene sequences. These related to Hydrogenophaga, Acinetobacter, Dechloromonas, Comamonas, and Rhizobium/Agrobacterium species. In addition, the enriched microbiomes contained genes highly similar to the arsenite oxidase (aioA) gene of chemolithoautotrophic (e.g., Paracoccus sp. SY) and heterotrophic arsenite-oxidizing strains. The enriched cultures also contained aioA phylotypes not detected in the previous survey of uncultivated samples from the same wells. Anaerobic enrichments disclosed a wider diversity of arsenite oxidizing aioA phylotypes than did aerobic enrichments. The cultivatable chemolithoautotrophic and heterotrophic arsenite oxidizers are of great interest for future in or ex-situ arsenic bioremediation technologies for the detoxification of drinking water by oxidizing arsenite to arsenate that should then precipitates with iron oxides. The microbial activities required for such a technology seem present, amplifiable, diverse and hence robust. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Subsurface Geomicrobiology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 1514 KiB  
Article
Cave Drip Water-Related Samples as a Natural Environment for Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria
by Eric L. S. Marques, Gislaine S. Silva, João C. T. Dias, Eduardo Gross, Moara S. Costa and Rachel P. Rezende
Microorganisms 2019, 7(2), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7020033 - 25 Jan 2019
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3730
Abstract
Restricted contact with the external environment has allowed the development of microbial communities adapted to the oligotrophy of caves. However, nutrients can be transported to caves by drip water and affect the microbial communities inside the cave. To evaluate the influence of aromatic [...] Read more.
Restricted contact with the external environment has allowed the development of microbial communities adapted to the oligotrophy of caves. However, nutrients can be transported to caves by drip water and affect the microbial communities inside the cave. To evaluate the influence of aromatic compounds carried by drip water on the microbial community, two limestone caves were selected in Brazil. Drip-water-saturated and unsaturated sediment, and dripping water itself, were collected from each cave and bacterial 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of naphthalene dioxygenase (ndo) genes were performed. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) were performed to evaluate inorganic nutrients, and GC was performed to estimate aromatic compounds in the samples. The high frequency of Sphingomonadaceae in drip water samples indicates the presence of aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. This finding was consistent with the detection of naphthalene and acenaphthene and the presence of ndo genes in drip-water-related samples. The aromatic compounds, aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and 16S rDNA sequencing indicate that aromatic compounds may be one of the sources of energy and carbon to the system and the drip-water-associated bacterial community contains several potentially aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to present compelling evidence for the presence of aromatic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in cave drip water. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Subsurface Geomicrobiology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 1033 KiB  
Article
Purple Sulfur Bacteria Dominate Microbial Community in Brazilian Limestone Cave
by Eric L. S. Marques, João C. T. Dias, Eduardo Gross, Adriana B. de Cerqueira e Silva, Suzana R. de Moura and Rachel P. Rezende
Microorganisms 2019, 7(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7020029 - 23 Jan 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3864
Abstract
The mineralogical composition of caves makes the environment ideal for inhabitation by microbes. However, the bacterial diversity in the cave ecosystem remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we described the bacterial community in an oxic chamber of the Sopradeira cave, an iron-rich limestone [...] Read more.
The mineralogical composition of caves makes the environment ideal for inhabitation by microbes. However, the bacterial diversity in the cave ecosystem remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we described the bacterial community in an oxic chamber of the Sopradeira cave, an iron-rich limestone cave, in the semiarid region of Northeast Brazil. The microbial population in the cave samples was studied by 16S rDNA next-generation sequencing. A type of purple sulfur bacteria (PSB), Chromatiales, was found to be the most abundant in the sediment (57%), gravel-like (73%), and rock samples (96%). The predominant PSB detected were Ectothiorhodospiraceae, Chromatiaceae, and Woeseiaceae. We identified the PSB in a permanently aphotic zone, with no sulfur detected by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. The absence of light prompted us to investigate for possible nitrogen fixing (nifH) and ammonia oxidizing (amoA) genes in the microbial samples. The nifH gene was found to be present in higher copy numbers than the bacterial-amoA and archaeal-amoA genes, and archaeal-amoA dominated the ammonia-oxidizing community. Although PSB dominated the bacterial community in the samples and may be related to both nitrogen-fixing and ammonia oxidizing bacteria, nitrogen-fixing associated gene was the most detected in those samples, especially in the rock. The present work demonstrates that this cave is an interesting hotspot for the study of ammonia-oxidizing archaea and aphotic PSB. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Subsurface Geomicrobiology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

27 pages, 350 KiB  
Review
Subsurface Microbial Hydrogen Cycling: Natural Occurrence and Implications for Industry
by Simon P. Gregory, Megan J. Barnett, Lorraine P. Field and Antoni E. Milodowski
Microorganisms 2019, 7(2), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7020053 - 15 Feb 2019
Cited by 101 | Viewed by 8238
Abstract
Hydrogen is a key energy source for subsurface microbial processes, particularly in subsurface environments with limited alternative electron donors, and environments that are not well connected to the surface. In addition to consumption of hydrogen, microbial processes such as fermentation and nitrogen fixation [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is a key energy source for subsurface microbial processes, particularly in subsurface environments with limited alternative electron donors, and environments that are not well connected to the surface. In addition to consumption of hydrogen, microbial processes such as fermentation and nitrogen fixation produce hydrogen. Hydrogen is also produced by a number of abiotic processes including radiolysis, serpentinization, graphitization, and cataclasis of silicate minerals. Both biotic and abiotically generated hydrogen may become available for consumption by microorganisms, but biotic production and consumption are usually tightly coupled. Understanding the microbiology of hydrogen cycling is relevant to subsurface engineered environments where hydrogen-cycling microorganisms are implicated in gas consumption and production and corrosion in a number of industries including carbon capture and storage, energy gas storage, and radioactive waste disposal. The same hydrogen-cycling microorganisms and processes are important in natural sites with elevated hydrogen and can provide insights into early life on Earth and life on other planets. This review draws together what is known about microbiology in natural environments with elevated hydrogen, and highlights where similar microbial populations could be of relevance to subsurface industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Subsurface Geomicrobiology)
Back to TopTop